My Weekly Book Haul & Sunday Post

The Sunday Post

This is hosted over at Caffeinated Book Reviewer and is a weekly meme where you can share any news, recap what happened on the blog in the week, showcase all the books you've gotten and share what you have coming up the following week. 

Well in all honestly, this has been a packed week, which has left very little time for blogging. Usually I post my book haul on Fridays, but have just not had the time this week. I had a Harry Potter movie marathon with a friend on Monday and Tuesday, to distract us from our wait for The Hunger Games movie double bill Wedneday night. Then the actual double bill, work, more work and then seeing Catching Fire again with my cousins Friday night. During all that, I found very limited time to actually blog. I then had some really bad news after I left the cinema on Friday, my grandad had unfortunately passed away. Luckily, he was ninety-two, lived a great life and went peacefully surrounded by his sons; which I am thankful for. Today I put all that aside and was able to celebrate my seven year anniversary with my boyfriend, we've been together since we were fifteen and I'm not sure what I would do without him. 2013 has honestly been the worst year of my life so far, so I am super excited for Christmas and New Year to be over so I can start 2014, which will hopefully be much better! 

Last Week On The Blog

Feature & Follow Friday
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Review
Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want My Cousin To Read
My Thoughts On Catching Fire, The Movie.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins: Review

Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Finds is something that was started over on ShouldBeReading and Stacking the Shelves over at TyngaReviews, I am in love with all of these as I love finding other blogs to follow and books to read through these! So check them all out and see what you find, Stacking the Shelves has a lot of participants as well which is great. This is basically a way for me to show what books I have received, borrowed or bought each week.

This Week I Bought:

172 Hours On The Moon by Johan Harstad

There's a reason we never went back to the moon. 

It was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. Mia, Antoine and Midori had different reasons to enter NASA's competition for a seat on the first shuttle to go to the moon in over forty years.

But while they all wanted to escape earth, they never realised there might not be a chance to come home...

The blurb gives little away and I haven't seen any reviews for this but it was on a deal and really cheap, so I thought I would give it a chance. 

Easy by Tammara Webber

'I took a deep breathe and exhaled it slowly before turning around. It was Lucas who stood there. His gaze was penetrating, not wavering for a moment, and my pulse hammered under his silent scrutiny.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd been so full of pure, unqualified desire.'

Lucas is the stranger who saved Jacqueline from an attack by a fellow student - she'd never noticed him before then, and now he's everything.

But can Jacqueline trust him - or will the secrets he's hiding come between them?

Have been seeing this everywhere so thought I would give it a go.

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

They're young, fabulous and fanged...

And they rule Manhattan from the trendy uptown clubs to the downtown boutiques. Fifteen-year-old Schuyler Van Alen has never quite fit in at her exclusive prep school- she's more of a vintage than a Versace girl- but all that's about to chance...

Because Shulyer has just found out she's a Blue Blood. The Blue Bloods are the city's glamorous and secret vampire elite. They're young, beautiful and powerful. But now they're being murdered. And Schulyer must find out who - or what - is behind it, before she's next.

Not too sure about this, but it was only £1, so thought I'd give this series starter a try. Not even sure how to pronounce Shuyler, if I'm honest. 

This Week I Borrowed:

Fallen Too Far & Never Too Far by Abbi Glines

When Blaire Wynn's mother passed away, her life changed in an instant. Having cared for her sick mother on her own for years, suddenly Blaire has to leave her home and move in with the father who walked out on them.

Worse still, she arrives to discover her dad's gone to Paris for the summer with his new wife, leaving her stranded with Rush, her stepbrother, who's irritating, arrogant and... seriously sexy. Blaire knows Rush is anything but good for her, but somehow she can't fight the attraction she's feeling, especially when she starts to think the attraction is mutual. Rush is jaded and has dark secrets that Blaire's afraid of uncovering, but despite Rush's troubles, Blaire just may have fallen too far to walk away...

Stepbrothers, a rather hot concept for me ever since I saw Cruel Intentions. This sounds like it could be a good read, if I can get over the name Rush; so, so stupid. Hate the covers though, just awful.

Hysteria by Megan Miranda

You wanted him. You needed him. You killed him.

Life can change in an instant. Fear can take you to the very edge. 

Mallory's old life is dead. Her boyfriend is gone; his blood washed from the kitchen tiles. Still it stains her mind. She can't ever go back.

Monroe Prep School is her new start. But everyone thinks they know what happened that night. They think they know her. They don't.

Acid by Emma Pass

ACID - the most brutal police force in history. They rule with an iron fist. They see everything. They know everything. They locked me away for life.

My crime? They say I murdered my parents. I was fifteen years old. My name is Jenna Strong. 

Doesn't give much away but it sounds really great! 

The Originals by Cat Patrick

'I glance at the three baby portraits in thick wooden frames. I feel a familiar prickling on the back of my neck. Because I know there's another picture somewhere - and the baby in that photo looks identical to the babies on the wall. Somewhere, there's a photo of the Original.'

Ella, Betsey and I look like sisters: triplets, you might think. But that's not what we are at all. We are clones in hiding. We split our lives and exist as one person in the outside world. And we've always been happy. But now I've fallen head-over-heels in love... and that changes everything. 

Because, to let love in, I need to be allowed to be Me. 

The Mark by Jen Nadol

Cassandra Renfield suspects the glowing mark she sees on certain people is more than just a trick of the light. But it's not until she watches a marked man get hit by a car that she understands what she means. Cassie knows when someone is going to die. Not how or where, only when: today.

Finally armed with knowledge about the light, Cassie seeks out those marked for death in the hopes of better understanding her "gift". She is careful to keep the power a secret- even from her new boyfriend- but with each impending death come more questions. Why is Cassie the only one who sees the mark? What happens when she sees it on someone she loves? And most important, should she tell someone they are about to die?

Beta by Rachel Cohn

Elysia was created to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. As a soulless clone of a sixteen-year-old, Elysia is immune to the emotions that could distract her from her work as companion to the governor's children. Or so she's been told. When Elysia meets Tahir, the gorgeous, enigmatic son of Demesne's most powerful family, overpowering sensations begin clouding her mind. 

Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be. If anyone discovers she can love, Elysia will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. But the pull toward Tahir is too strong to ignore. When they are torn apart with breathtaking cruelty, emotions Elysia has always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia vows to escape her caged existence- no matter what they cost.

Received For Review:

Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine

In the Houses of Montague and Capulet, there is only one goal: power. The boys are born to fight and die for honor and—if they survive—marry for influence and money, not love. The girls are assets, to be spent wisely. Their wishes are of no import. Their fates are written on the day they are born. Benvolio Montague, cousin to Romeo, knows all this. He expects to die for his cousin, for his house, but a spark of rebellion still lives inside him. At night, he is the Prince of Shadows, the greatest thief in Verona—and he risks all as he steals from House Capulet. In doing so, he sets eyes on convent-bound Rosaline, and a terrible curse begins that will claim the lives of many in Verona……And will rewrite all their fates, forever.

Released: 4th February 2014

Control by Lydia Kang

When a crash kills their father and leaves them orphaned, Zel knows she needs to protect her sister, Dyl. But before Zel has a plan, Dyl is taken by strangers using bizarre sensory weapons, and Zel finds herself in a safe house for teens who aren’t like any she’s ever seen before—teens who shouldn't even exist. Using broken-down technology, her new friends’ peculiar gifts, and her own grit, Zel must find a way to get her sister back from the kidnappers who think a powerful secret is encoded in Dyl’s DNA.

Released: 26th December 2013

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.
Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? 

Released: 7th January 2014

Vitro by Jessica Khoury

On a remote island in the Pacific, Corpus scientists have taken test tube embryos and given them life. These beings—the Vitros—have knowledge and abilities most humans can only dream of. But they also have one enormous flaw.Sophie Crue is determined to get to Skin Island and find her mother, a scientist who left Sophie behind years ago. She enlists hunky charter pilot Jim Julien to take her there. But once on the island, Sophie and Jim encounter more than they bargained for, including a charming, brilliant Vitro named Nicholas and an innocent, newly awoken one named Lux.

In a race for their lives, Sophie and Jim are about to discover what happens when science stretches too far beyond its reach.

Released: 14th January 2014

Magnolia by Kristi Cook

In Magnolia Branch, Mississippi, the Cafferty and Marsden families are southern royalty. Neighbors since the Civil War, the families have shared vacations, holidays, backyard barbecues, and the overwhelming desire to unite their two clans by marriage. So when a baby boy and girl were born to the families at the same time, the perfect opportunity seemed to have finally arrived.

Jemma Cafferty and Ryder Marsden have no intention of giving in to their parents’ wishes. They’re only seventeen, for goodness’ sake, not to mention that one little problem: They hate each other! Jemma can’t stand Ryder’s nauseating golden-boy persona, and Ryder would like nothing better than to pretend stubborn Jemma doesn’t exist.But when a violent storm ravages Magnolia Branch, it unearths Jemma’s and Ryder’s true feelings for each other as the two discover that the line between love and hate may be thin enough to risk crossing over.

Released: 5th August 2014

#Scandal by Sarah Ockler

Lucy’s learned some important lessons from tabloid darling Jayla Heart’s all-too-public blunders: Avoid the spotlight, don’t feed the Internet trolls, and keep your secrets secret. The policy has served Lucy well all through high school, so when her best friend Ellie gets sick before prom and begs her to step in as Cole’s date, she accepts with a smile, silencing about ten different reservations. Like the one where she’d rather stay home shredding online zombies. And the one where she hates playing dress-up. And;the one where she’s been secretly in love with Cole since the dawn of time.

When Cole surprises her at the after party with a kiss under the stars, it’s everything Lucy has ever dreamed of… and the biggest BFF deal-breaker ever. Despite Cole’s lingering sweetness, Lucy knows they’ll have to ’fess up to Ellie. But before they get the chance, Lucy’s own Facebook profile mysteriously explodes with compromising pics of her and Cole, along with tons of other students’ party indiscretions. Tagged. Liked. And furiously viral.By Monday morning, Lucy’s been branded a slut, a backstabber, and a narc, mired in a tabloid-worthy scandal just weeks before graduation. Lucy’s been battling undead masses online long enough to know there’s only one way to survive a disaster of this magnitude: Stand up and fight. Game plan? Uncover and expose the Facebook hacker, win back her best friend’s trust, and graduate with a clean slate.There’s just one snag—Cole. Turns out Lucy’s not the only one who’s been harboring unrequited love...

Released: 17th June 2014

Anything To Have You by Paige Harrison

Nothing should come between best friends, not even boys. ESPECIALLY not boys. Natalie and Brooke have had each other's backs forever. Natalie is the quiet one, college bound and happy to stay home and watch old movies. Brooke is the movie—the life of every party, the girl everyone wants to be.

Then it happens—one crazy night that Natalie can't remember and Brooke's boyfriend, Aiden, can't forget. Suddenly there's a question mark in Natalie and Brooke's friendship that tests everything they thought they knew about each other and has both girls discovering what true friendship really means.

Released: 28th January 2014

Another Little Piece Of My Heart by Tracey Martin

What if your devastating break-up became this summer’s hit single? In this rock-and-roll retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, music can either bring you together or tear you apart. At her dying mother’s request, Claire dumps Jared, the only boy she’s ever loved. Left with a broken family and a broken heart, Claire is furious when she discovers that her biggest regret became Jared’s big break. While Jared is catapulted into rock-star status, another piece of Claire’s heart crumbles every time his song plays on the radio. The summer after her senior year, it’s been months since the big break-up, and Claire is just trying to keep her head down and make it through a tense trip to the beach with her family. But when Jared shows up, and old feelings reignite, can Claire and Jared let go of the past? Or will they be stuck singing the same old refrain?

Released: 1st December 2013

Thanks for following this week:

This Girl Reads A Lot
Cherry Mischievous
The Sea of Pages
IO Book Tours


Hopefully next week will be less busy, well after the Imagine Dragons concert, and I will be able to keep up with the blogging. So little time!